e-discussion: Moving beyond ODF to safely managed sanitation for all

Hosted by the Civil Society WASH Fund, this e-Discussion will run from 12 September until 5 October 2016 to explore the role that organisations, particularly Civil Society Organisation (CSOs, or NGOs), play in assisting households, communities and governments to move up the sanitation ladder to ensure the safe and sustainable sanitation for all. Each week a new question will be posed. The e-discussion is facilitated by Mark Ellery.

The objective of this e-discussion is for CSOs and other practitioners to share their experiences of working with households and communities, private and public sector agencies to not only eradicate open defecation but to ensure the safe management of sanitation for all. This e-discussion will seek to understand the role that CSOs and others are currently playing in assisting communities:
• to move from the eradication of open defecation (i.e. triggering the behaviour change of individuals within communities to achieve collective ODF status);
• to improved sanitation for all (i.e. including the proximate, sufficient, affordable and hygienic sanitation facilities for all including children, the poor & disabled);
• to total sanitation (i.e. including the management of fecal sludge, drainage and solid waste services); and
• to ensuring improved health outcomes (i.e. including the regulation and enforcement of environmental health compliance of sanitary facilities).